Fitting In
by Shi-Nom
Summary: Sixteen years after the truck Heist, the team is still together, Dom and Letty have a daughter, Ro, who is trying to find her place among the team and her peers.
1. Default Chapter

A/N:  This is my first TFATF story.  It takes place Sixteen years after the Truck heist gone bad.  Please Please Please. R/R!  

Disclaimer:  I do not own the characters of The Fast and the Furious.  I'm just having them over to play.  Rosa belongs to me.  

Dom was sitting in his office at Torretto's Café and Market.  He was going over inventory sheets, figuring out what they needed to order, and what they had too much of.  It was dull work, but it had to be done, besides, when he finished with this he could head to the Garage to do something fun.

Behind him, at the Café counter, his younger sister Mia sat behind the counter flipping through a car magazine and talking to her husband, Brian.  The two of them looked extremely cozy as Brian ate his tuna fish sandwich on white with the crust cut off.  No one could figure out just why he liked the tuna at Torretto's.  Very few people ever ordered it, and the few who did, never ordered it twice.

Dom heard the phone ring, but he ignored it, knowing without looking that Mia was already reaching for the extension in the Café.

"Torretto's" she said, she paused, and Brian watched as her eyebrows raised.

"Yes, Mr. Bradley, he's right here, just a moment." 

Dom noticed the concerned tone in his sister's voice, and he turned to look at her.

"Dom, it's Ro's principal."

Dom gave Mia a confused look and reached for the phone in his office, reaching over with his free hand to close the door as he did.

"Hey, this is Dominic…Is everything OK with Rosa?...She What!...For how long?....I see…Any idea which direction?...Thanks for calling….Goodbye."

Dominic hung up the phone, grabbed the car keys, and headed into the main café, where both Mia and Brian were eyeing him with concern.

"I'll be right back." Dom said.

"What's wrong?" asked Mia.

"Ro's took off from school, she's been suspended for fighting."  It was said with soft disbelief.

"She what?!" both Brian and Mia exclaimed.

"Yeah, that's what I said.  Listen, I'm gonna go look for her."

"I'm going too." Said Mia.  "Brian can cover the shop while we're gone."

Dom considered for a moment, and then nodded.

"It'll go faster if we split up." He said.  "Brian, if she comes by, keep her here and call us."

"Of course." Brian responded.  He watched as Dominic and Mia left in their separate cars to look for Ro, then reached for the phone to call Letty at the Garage.  He knew that it was just as likely for the car crazy teenager to go there as to stop at the Café, and he knew Letty deserved to know what was going on with her daughter.

Ro Toretto slammed the front door with a bang that knocked a photo off the wall.  She ignored it, not even noticing it enough to be grateful that the glass hadn't broken.  She stormed up the stairs walked in her door, and heaved her backpack across the room where it knocked over the nightstand and broke the lamp that was perched on top of it.

The fifteen year old could not remember being this angry.  Just the thought of what had transpired in the last hour made her blood boil.  The worst part was there was nothing she could do to change things.

She changed out of the clothes she had worn that day, tossing the discarded garments around the room with enough force to hurt if anyone got caught in the crossfire, and pulled on her favorite pair of baggy well worn jeans and a tank top, hoping that the familiar attire would give her some comfort.  Unfortunately she didn't feel any better. She paused for a moment, decided that she could not stay in this room, spun on her heel, and headed back downstairs and outside.

Normally, since Mia was covering the café this afternoon on her day off from the hospital, Ro would go to the Garage to help on the cars.  She turned and started to head that way, hoping that the teasing and joking of the team would help get her mind off things, then though better of it.  She just knew that the school may have already called there to let them know what had happened, and she really didn't look forward to the lecture that she was sure to get.  She turned and headed in the opposite direction, without any idea where her feet were taking her.  

Ro walked around aimlessly for almost an hour before she heard the very familiar rumble of a car, a specific car.  The sound came from behind her, and she considered cutting off the street and heading behind the houses here, but she knew that she would only be putting off the inevitable.

The car slowed, and Ro heard the window roll down.  She kept walking.

"Come on Ro, get in the car." Said the driver.

"No." Said Ro.

"Ro, I'm not kidding."

Ro, didn't respond, nor did she slow her pace.

"Rosa Marie Torretto.  Get in the car."  This time, the driver's voice was calm, but no nonsense.

Ro stopped, sighed, turned toward her dad, and got in.

Dom handed his daughter his cell phone.

"Call Mia and let her know that we're on our way back to the Garage."

Ro, showing the true Torretto anger, glared.

"Now Rosa, she's worried."

Ro picked up the phone and dialed her aunt, who answered on the first ring.

"It's me…I'm fine, we're on the way back to the café.  Yeah,  bye."

Rosa pushed end and handed the phone back to Dom, before focusing on the road in front of her.  She knew that as soon as she hung up the phone, Aunt Mia would call Uncle Brian, who was probably at the Café right now, that Uncle Brian would call the Garage, and by the time they got to the café, Mom would be there, waiting.  

She could feel her fathers' eyes studying her and knew why, she didn't look that great.

Ro's long dark brown hair was in shambles, but that was the least of her problems.  There was a large bruise on her left cheek, which was making her eye swell as well, her lip was split, and the knuckles of both hands were bruised and bleeding.  She folded her hands in her lap, self consciously, and turned her face to the window, and away from her dad's eyes.

The rest of the ride to the café seemed to take forever with her dad sitting next to her in silence, and yet as far as she was concerned, she got there entirely too quickly, knowing that when she got there, she was probably in for one of the longest lectures of her life, from both her parents.

The car pulled up in front of the café, and Ro climbed out and followed her dad inside.  As she suspected, her Mom was waiting and rushed over to see her as soon as she got inside.  

"Oh, Rosa.  Are you ok, Poco Amor?"

"Mom, I'm fine." Ro said, knowing that it wouldn't do any good.

"Let me take a look." Said Mia, ever the doctor.

Letty stepped out of the way to let Mia look over Ro.  Her aunt felt each of Mia's hands for broken bones.  As the examination continued, Ro looked up into the faces of her parents, who were looking at her with a mix of concern, and disappointment.  At that moment, the last of Rosa's anger melted away, and she only felt shame.  She turned to look at the floor.

"She's ok." Said Mia after a moment.  "Though she's going to be pretty sore tomorrow.  We should put some Ice on her cheek and hands."

"I'll get it," said Brian, who was still standing behind the counter.

"Thanks, Brian." Said Dom, who then turned to his daughter.  "Rosa, Mom and I need to talk to you in the office."

"Yes, sir." Said Ro.  She turned and led the way into the office, with both of her parents on her heals.

"Have a seat." Said Letty, kindly, yet firmly.

Rosa sat down in the only chair in the office, her dads, while her parents perched on the edge of the desk.  Ro was relieved.  If they weren't getting comfortable, maybe this wouldn't last as long as she had thought.  A moment later, Uncle Brian brought in a couple of ice packs.  

"Thanks." Said Ro as she held on her cheek with the back of her left hand and held the other on her right hand.

"Brian, would you mind bringing in a couple more chairs." Asked Dom. Rosa sighed inwardly.  Things were not looking good.

"Not a problem." Brian responded, he quickly returned with the chairs, and then left, closing the doors behind him.

Dom sat for a moment, looking at Ro.  He had a million thoughts going through his head, just as they had been since Mr. Bradley had called.  He couldn't believe that his little girl had gotten suspended for fighting.  She had always been so cheerful and carefree, he couldn't imagine what she had been thinking to get into a fight, and judging by her hands, this was no small cat fight.

He knew he shouldn't be surprised, after all, just look at who her parents were.  Both Dom and Letty had gotten into more than their fair share of fights when they were growing up.  Heck, they fought as adults, but both of them had given it up when Rosa was born.  They didn't want their daughter to think that kind of behavior was ok, so they didn't show it.  Now she was getting into it on her own.

Dom took a deep breath.

"So, do you want to tell us what happened?" he asked.

"I don't suppose you would let it drop if I said I learned my lesson, would you?" Ro said hopefully, looking from her Dad, to her Mom, and back again.

"What do you think?" Letty answered, one eyebrow raised.

"I guess not."  Rosa took a deep breath, trying to figure out how to explain what had happened at school that day.

"Well, I was having some…trouble, in drivers ed today…" she began.

_Rosa sat behind the wheel of the silver Ford Taurus, breathing deeply, and hoping that the butterflies in her stomach would go away.__  Next to her, Mr. Corpot was giving her instructions on where to drive, and giving her endless instructions on how to drive.  She didn't know why he was being so detailed  right now.  After all, she had just spent three weeks in the classroom going over all of the road laws, he had been detailed enough then.  _

_She glanced in the review mirror at the two people behind her, Mike and Mark Sullivan, who were totally ignoring her.  The Sullivan twins were the most well known and most adored boys in their grade..  They played soccer, and had traded off being captain of the soccer team for the last four years.  They were fit, but not necessarily muscular.  They were intelligent, and popular, and would probably both be valedictorians.  As far as Ro was concerned, they were the biggest jerks on the planet._

_There was a time when Ro and the twins were inseparable.  They would hang out together, play sports, go to movies, climb trees, and get into trouble.  Then, Jr. High started.  Ro was never sure just when things started to change.  Mike and Mark started hanging out with guys more, because it was cool, and Rosa started helping out at the garage.  One day, they were playing basket ball in gym class.  Ro got past Mike, who was guarding her, and made the shot.  That was the day the officially turned on her._

_"OK, Rosa." Said Mr. Corpot, snapping her out of her thoughts.  "Take it out slowly, and make a right."_

_Rosa__ nodded, to nervous to speak, put the car into gear, and crept forward.  It's not that she was afraid of driving, she had grown up around cars and racing.  No, her nerves stemmed from the Sullivan twins.  She knew it was only a matter of time before they started their snide little comments.  She also knew that Mr. Carpot wouldn't stop them._

_The comments started sooner than she had expected._

_"She's driving like Gramma…" Mark mumbled to his brother, before she had made it out of the parking lot._

_"Nah, Gramma drives faster than this.  I think she's driving like a dead person." Mike replied, a bit more loudly, with a grin._

_Ro gripped the wheel harder, stopped at the street, looked both ways, remembered that she hadn't signaled, did so, looked both ways again, and pulled out onto the street, accelerating too fast and making the tires spin on some loose gravel._

_"Easy on the Pedals __Rosa__, this isn't a race." Said Mr. Corpot, softly._

_"Yes, sir."__ Ro responded._

_"She probably doesn't know how to drive normally." Said Mark, getting a laugh from his brother._

_"Ok, Rosa.  We're going to take a left at the intersection up here." Said Mr. Corpot._

_"Yes, sir."_

_Rosa__ signaled for a left turn, pulled into the turn lane, and started to brake.  Unfortunately, the brake didn't engage as quickly as she thought it would.  Ro panicked and pushed the pedal to the floor, making the car jerk to a stop._

_"Way to go Torretto.  You trying to give us whiplash?" said Mike from the back.  Ro turned to glare at him over her shoulder._

_"Ignore them __Rosa__, you're going to need to deal with distractions every day while you're driving." Mr. Corpot said._

_Ro turned back to the front, waited for a break in the traffic, and turned left onto the next street.  Unfortunately, a car pulled out in front of her from the curb without signaling and she had to brake hard again, triggering the driver behind her to honk their horn._

_"Brother," said Mark sarcastically.  "I hope you told Mom you loved her this morning, cause I don't think we're going to make it out of this."_

_Both of the boys started laughing again.  _

_The next five minutes weren't much better, and Mr. Corpot finally had Ro pull into a parking lot to let Mark drive._

_When they got back to the school, Mark turned to head to his history class, and Mike followed Ro toward their music class._

_"Hey __Rosa__, Haven't you ever been behind the wheel of a car before." He said._

_"Of course I have." Ro replied shortly._

_"Then why aren't you a better driver?  You're parents are the best racers in LA, and you can't even turn a corner."_

_Ro ignored this comment, and just kept walking, though her hands were starting to clench into fists._

_"What, don't they care enough to teach you how to drive?" Mike continued, still pushing for a reaction.  "Or maybe they just think too much of themselves to pass on what they know."_

_Rosa__ snapped.  She spun around and punched Mike as hard as she could…in his shoulder.  Too high on adrenaline and anger to feel the pain in her hand, she followed with a left jab to his nose, that knocked him a few steps back.  Shocked at what she had just done, she stopped, wide eyed for a moment, allowing Mike time to recover and punch her, bruising her cheek and splitting her lip.  The impact knocked Ro out of her trance and she landed one more punch to Mike's eye before she felt herself being pulled back by the strong arms of one of the security guards at the school._

"So they took me to Mr. Bradley's office, where I got suspended.  I was still so mad, I just left."  Ro finished her story softly, still feeling angry, but this time it was at herself, for letting the twins get to her.  

There was a moment's pause before either of her parents spoke.

"Rosa, go wait out in the café.  You're dad and I need to talk." Said Letty.

"Yes, ma'am." Ro replied.  She stood up from the chair, and left the room, closing the door behind her.  Only then did she realize that the rest of the team had arrived while she was talking.

"Hey, Ro." Said Vince.  "Nice shiner."

Rosa struggled to crack a smile, gave up and just sank down onto one of the bar stools and put her head in her hands on the counter.

"I am so dead." She said, to no one in particular.

"No you're not." Jesse answered.  "In trouble, yes.  But you'd have to do something far worse before you're parents would kill you."

"Like what?"

"Like wreck you're dad's car." Leon replied, eliciting chuckles from the group.  Unfortunately, it hit a bit too close to home for Ro, and she felt a tear start to slide down her cheek.  She wiped it away quickly, hoping that no one would see.

Brian noticed her attempt to hide the tear, and he put a comforting hand on her shoulder.  

"Rosa, you're parents can forgive anything.  Trust me, I know."

Ro only nodded.  She knew they would forgive her, eventually.  She just didn't like the fact that she had disappointed them.  Looking around at the team, she knew that she had disappointed them as well, after all, they had all helped raise her.  Even Vince was looking at her differently.  She looked up at the window to the office.

Dom and Letty were deep in discussion.  They always talked about it before they disciplined Rosa.  They wanted to make sure that they both agreed on it.  Finally, they came to their conclusion and waved their daughter back into the room.  

Rosa sat back down in her seat and faced her parents.  She felt like she was on the witness stand, facing the jury.

"You know we don't want you fighting." Dom said.

"I know." Rosa said softly, looking down at her hands, which still had the ice on them, though she had give up on icing her cheek.

"You've always been good at controlling your temper, until now." Letty added.

Rosa only nodded.

"You're grounded, for three weeks." Dom finally said.

"What?  Three weeks!" Ro exclaimed, it was the longest she had ever been grounded.

"Yes." Said Dom, simply.

"But, he had it coming."

"That's not your decision." Said Letty.

"Mike and Mark are always picking on people.  Someone has to stop them?"

"Do you think that what you did will help." Dom asked.

Ro almost answered yes automatically, then stopped.  The Sullivan twins were always calling her a tomboy.  Saying she had too much of a temper, and that she was too much of a jock.  And now she had given one of them a black eye.

"No." she replied softly.

"I don't think so either."

"So…" Ro asked after a moment.  "Can I still work at the Garage?"

"Of course." Letty replied.  "You're too much of a help for us to keep you from there."

"What about the races Saturday nights?"

"No races." Said Dom, firmly.

"But…"

"No buts." Dom interrupted.

"Yes, sir."

"Good." Said Letty, looking out the window into the café.  "Looks like we have an audience.  You want us to tell them?" 

"Nah, I will.  They'll find out soon enough anyway." Ro turned toward the doorway.

"Oh, Ro?" said Dom.

"Yeah?"

"This weekend, you're Mom and I are going to teach you to drive."

"In what?" asked Rosa, thinking they would never let her drive their cars.

"In mine, for now." Said Dom.  "And we'll start to look for a fixer upper for you."

"Really?" Ro asked, shocked.

"Yep."

"Thanks!"  Rosa ran up and hugged her parents, then headed out to the café.

Dom and Letty watched her leave.

"You know," said Letty.  "I've seen the Sullivan twins.  They each outweigh her by about twenty five pounds."

"That's our girl." Said Dom.  

The headed into the café after Rosa.


	2. Decisions

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A/N 

Thanks to sissy-sara88, RedHotLatina, JC, La Mamasita Loca, Olivia, SpoonGirl1, Green Bird 2071, Frgt/10, darkdestiney 2000, and Maliek for you reviews.  I'm so excited!

Disclaimer:  Guess what?  The characters of The Fast and The Furious don't belong to me.  I just invited them over to drag race in front of my house.  Unfortunately, that's not working out so well, cause I live on a one lane dirt road full of pot holes.  Ah well.

Rosa set a bowl of potato salad down on the table next to the salad and steaks, licked some off her thumb then took her seat next to Vince while Mia brought out the corn on the cob and sat next to Brian.  

There was a pause, as everyone waited for someone else to start serving so that they wouldn't have to say grace.  When it became clear that no one was going to go first, everyone burst out laughing.

"Sorry Dom."  Said Letty.  "It doesn't look like you're going to get you're prayer tonight."

"Nonsense." Dominic Replied.  "Ro, it's you're turn."

"What?" said Ro, surprised.  "Why me?"

"Because I saw you licking potato salad off your thumb, you started eating first." Dom replied with a grin.

Rosa opened her mouth to protest, realized that it wouldn't work, closed her mouth, and bowed her head.

"Dear heavenly spirit." She began, while casting around for something to say.  She suddenly remembered her physics teacher's latest random science fact.  "Thank you for helping Nicholas-Joseph Cugnot to invent the first self propelled road vehicle back in 1771.  Though this vehicle was flop, only going a pathetic 2 miles per hour, it paved the way for the modern cars, which already go much faster, and can be improved on, if you know how.  Amen."

There was a soft chorus of Amens from around the table.

"Good job, Ro." Said Vince.

"A history lesson, not bad." Added Mia.

"It's good to remember our roots." Said Dom, proudly.  "I think that's the best we've heard in a while."

Rosa grinned at her father.

"Hey Dad, can I go to the races with you?" she asked.

"Not a chance, Ro." Dom replied, without changing his proud tone.  

Ro sighed and reached for the potato salad.  She had been trying to get her parents to change their mind about the races ever since they first told her she had to stay home.  She hadn't missed a race in two years, and she didn't want to start now.  They thought she just didn't want to miss the excitement, and to some extent that was true.  She loved the races.  She had been going to them for as long as she could remember.  She knew everyone there, from the mechanics, to the dreamers who hoped to be able to race one day, to the women her mom referred to as "the skanks".  

The thing was, she had her own reasons for wanting to be there.  Since Rosa grew up around the races, she had seen a couple of bad accidents and a few close calls.  They didn't happen that often, but they did happen.  Rosa was secretly terrified that something would happen to someone in her family.  If she was at there, she could see for herself that they were alright.

Rosa had thought about telling her parents about her concerns, but she knew that they just wouldn't understand.  After all, no one could beat their team at racing, other people won, occasionally, but it didn't happen very often.  Plus, they had been racing for years, and they hadn't gotten hurt yet.  Even if something did happen, there wouldn't be anything she could do about it.  Rosa had gone over all of the arguments in her head, and she knew they wouldn't accept them.

She made her decision; she was going to find her own way to the races.  If she stayed just out of sight, she would be able to make sure everyone was OK, and she wouldn't get in trouble.  If her parents called and wondered why she didn't answer the phone, she could just tell them she must have fallen asleep.

Ro was wakened from her thoughts when Vince nudged into her.

"What?" she asked, suddenly realizing that her Mom had been trying to get her attention.

"Are you OK?" Letty asked, concerned.

"I'm fine." Ro answered, trying to look casual, though her voice trembled and she felt like they could all hear what she had been thinking.  "I must have just zoned there for a moment."

"I guess." Letty replied, with a snicker.  "Nice sculpture you've got there, though you should probably eat it, and we'll get you some clay this weekend."

Ro looked down in confusion, only to realize that she had been unconsciously arranging her potato salad into the shape of a car, with cherry tomato's from her salad for wheels.  Ro blushed, stabbed the front wheel with her fork, and ate it.

When dinner was over, Ro did the dishes, waving Uncle Brian away when he offered to help by saying that it would give her something to do before she went back to her room, since she wasn't allowed to watch the movie everyone had just turned on.  The truth was, she just wanted to be alone to think.  She didn't have much time to come up with a plan.

Since she couldn't drive, she wouldn't be able to get their on her own, and Liz, the only one of her friends with a drivers license, wasn't allowed out of the house after 11:00, so there was no way Ro could catch a ride from her, no, it was time for desperate measures.

Rosa dried the last knife, dropped it in the drawer, hung the dish towel on the cabinet door under the sink, and headed for her room, not even pausing in the living room where one of her favorite movies was playing.  This didn't go unnoticed by Dom and Letty, who knew that Ro always tried to figure out some way to stay down in the living room when she was restricted from the television.  Once she had even watched from the kitchen using a hand mirror when she was supposed to be doing homework.  They watched their daughter leap up the stairs two at a time and looked at each other, shrugged, and turned back to the movie.

Up in her room, Ro was turning on her computer, while listening for any sounds of someone walking upstairs.  She pulled out the laptop that Jesse and Leon had given her for her last birthday, and began to type out an email.

_Hey Jarod.__  You keep telling me that you want to go to the races sometime, and asking if I would take you.  I know I said there was no way, that my parents wouldn't let me.  Well, this may be your chance.  If you don't have plans tonight, let me know.  You'll need to pick me up, but I can take you to the races.  For this first time, we'll have to watch from a distance.  Sorry we can't be in the thick of things, but this is all my Mom and Dad would agree to.  If this works out, maybe we can get closer to the action next time.  Let me know._

Ro considered how to close the email.  'Sincerely' sounded too formal, not to mention the entire email was totally insincere.  'Your Friend' was out, if she had a choice, she would never so much as speak to Jarod, but desperate times called for desperate measures.  In the end, she just signed _Ro Torretto_ then pressed send.

Ro closed her laptop, hoping that Jarod would get her email soon, so she would know if she had to come up with another plan.  Not that she could think of some other way.  She had already considered taking a cab, but if they got any where near the races, they would be turned away, plus there was a good chance that someone would see her, and she definitely couldn't have that happen.  Jarod on the other hand was desperate to get into racing and would follow her directions to the letter if she told him it was what he had to do.

For a moment Rosa had a momentary twinge of conscience, knowing that she was using Jarod and that he had absolutely no chance of getting started racing through her, on the other hand, the guy had been pestering her for the last year, ever since he had overheard Mark Sullivan say something about her parents' street racing.  Ro still grinned when she remember how she had knocked Mark flat after that comment, luckily it was while they were playing football and their gym teacher just thought she was caught up in the game.  Maybe if Jarod thought she was being rude, he would finally give up and leave her alone.

Ro could hear Jesse and Mia laughing at something on the movie and she relaxed and pulled out the book she was reading.  She figured that she would finish the chapter she was on, and then check her email to see if Jarod had replied.

A few minutes later, there was a soft knock on her door.

"Come in." she called.

Letty opened the door and peaked in at her daughter, who was stretched out on her bed, book in hand.

"How are you, Poco Amor?" Letty asked.

"Fine, why?"

"You just seemed…distracted at dinner.  I worry about you."

"Mom, I'm ok, really."  Rosa hated lying to her parents, but she didn't see any choice.  She just couldn't tell her Mom what she was planning on doing.  If she did, her parents would truly flip out.

Letty walked over and sat on the bed and ran her hand over her daughters forehead, smoothing back her hair.

"Sit up." She said.

Ro sat up and scooted in front of her mother, who used her fingers to gently comb and smooth her daughter's hair.  Rosa felt kind of silly letting her mom play with her hair, after all, she was fifteen.  On the other hand, she always found the touch soothing.  

People at the races had this idea that Letty Toretto was always tough, never let her guard down, and was a person you didn't mess with.  Ro knew why they had that idea.  Though she had never seen her parents fight, she had heard the stories.  Apparently Letty had once cold cocked Lance Tran with one punch.  Even now, Letty didn't let anyone push her around.  She didn't need to fight anymore.  She had earned too much respect for anyone to even start anything.  Dom had the same respect.

Rosa didn't really understand that side of her parents.  She had seen it, of course, but she saw things differently.  Letty always knew when something was bothering anyone.  She would stick up for anyone, and she had shown Rosa that she shouldn't let herself be pushed around.  Then there were moments like this, when they would sit together and talk, Letty would braid her hair, unbraid it, and braid it again.  Ro secretly loved these times.  There were very few times when she would let herself be girly.  She really liked doing "guy stuff".  She loved to work on cars, and play sports.  This meant she was usually wearing jeans and a tank top, something that could get dirty and she wouldn't care.

Ro had heard people talking about Dom at the races.  To most of them, he was almost and idol.  Ro couldn't remember her dad ever losing a race, sometimes the races were close, but every true racer knew that it didn't matter how close the race was, winning was winning, period.  Ro knew her dad was cocky.  She had seen people come to him for advice about racing, and heard him tease them, or flat out refuse.

Ro saw a different side to her dad.  She saw a man who would do anything for his family and friends, even if it was morally wrong.  She saw someone who wasn't afraid to stick up for the underdog, even if it went against his friends and family.  She saw someone who was always there for her when she was down, and she saw someone who would take in a complete stranger if they needed help.

Yes, Dom and Letty Toretto were tough, but they were also undeniably kind hearted.

Letty finished braiding Rosa's hair and wrapped a rubber band around the end of the braid to hold it in place.

"I'm going to go down and watch the end of the movie."  She said.  "Are you sure you're alright?"

"I'm fine, Mom.  Really."

Rosa forced herself to look at her Mom as she said this, knowing that if she was studying the blanket, as she wanted to, Letty would immediately know she was lying and stay there until Ro spilled the beans.

Letty studied her daughter, knowing instinctively that Rosa was holding something back.  Still, Ro deserved some privacy.  Letty just hoped that the girl would come to her if something was really wrong.

"I love you, Ro." Letty said.

"I love you too." Ro replied.

Rosa waited until the door was closed and she had heard her Mom retreat down the stairs, then hopped up off the bed and went over to her laptop.  Flipping it open, she quickly pulled up her email account.  There was a response from Jarod waiting for her and she quickly opened it.

_Ro,_

_I knew you'd come around one of these days.  I have to say, took you long enough, though I don't see why we have to watch from the sidelines.  What do they think I'm gonna do, huh? What time do ya need me t'pick you up?_

_Jarod___

Ro clicked reply and typed out a brief response telling Jarod to pick her up at 11:20.  That would give her parents and the team plenty of time to leave before he showed up.  She gave him the address, and clicked send.

That done, the girl pulled out her fiddle and began to tune it.  She began to play through the classical tunes that they were working on in her orchestra class.  She was having trouble with one of the songs because of a particularly difficult passage with sixteenth notes.  Getting frustrated, Ro turned away from her sheet music and began to play fiddle.  

Fiddle music was her passion.  She liked playing classical, and it was how she had gotten started playing to begin with, but last year, she had started taking fiddle lessons.  The style didn't matter to her, Irish, Scottish, Bluegrass, Old Time, Blues, she played it all.  The classical stuff she played in school had to be perfect, and played as the sheet music was written (and Ro took this as a challenge each time a new song was handed out) but fiddle music was more free.  Once you knew the basic tune, you could add ornamentation in to make it your own.  Ro was still learning how to do this, and she messed up more often than not.  But she just loved it.

Before she knew it, there was a knock on her door.

"Come in." she called, tucking her fiddle under her arm.

The door opened, and Dom entered the room.

"Sounding great." He said.

"Thanks."

"Is that a new song?"

"Yeah, it's called 'The Lock in the Morning'.  It's not up to speed yet, though."

"Well, that takes time, doesn't it?"

"I guess."

"Well, I just wanted to let you know that we're heading out now."

"Last chance to take me.  You know I can't be your good luck charm, if I'm not there." Rosa said this more as a joke than anything else.  She knew her dad would probably be suspicious if she didn't make one last effort to go to the races.  Honestly though, she didn't know what she would do if he said yes.  Jarod hung around with a pretty nasty crowd, and Ro really didn't want to piss him off by not being there when he arrived.  She knew she could probably take him, but she figured that getting into two fights in a row would probably get her grounded until she left for college.

Not that sneaking out and going to the races when her parents had expressly forbidden it was less likely to get her into trouble.

"Then I guess I'm going to have to rely on my amazing skills." Dom replied with a grin.

"Yeah…yeah." Ro said.  "You racing tonight?" she asked.

"Yep.  I wasn't going to, but I just found out that Damon is back in town, and he thinks he's going to take over here.  Someone needs to put him in his place."

"Shut him down, Dad."

"Will do, Pazzesco." Dom said, he reached over and ruffled Ro's hair, then turned and left the room.

Dom had been calling Ro, Pazzesco since she was seven years old and she had beat the Sullivan twins in a bike race by slaloming through some trees.  That was back when they were still inseparable.  It had taken Rosa four years to find out that the word meant crazy.

Ro shouldered her fiddle again and began to play, this time a softer, slower waltz.  She continued to play as she heard Leon and Jesse ask her Dad if she was doing alright.  She heard footsteps as everyone walked down the porch, as the front door closed and she heard Vince's heavy steps down the porch.  She heard the cars all start, and listened as they pulled away from the house, almost as a unit.  As she heard the cars turn on the main road, she abruptly stopped playing and put her fiddle back into its protective case.  

It was time to get ready.  

Jarod was supposed to be here in fifteen minutes, and Ro didn't want him to see her in her in the oil covered jeans she was still wearing from the garage.


	3. The Powder

A/N – Sorry its taken me so long to update, R/L has gotten in the way of my writing, plus I've had a hard time getting this chapter down on paper. I hope you like it. Please R/R. Thanks to Frgt/10 and darkdestiny2000 for your reviews! You're keeping me motivated.

Disclaimer: I don't own the situations or characters from The Fast and The Furious. We're all just getting together to form a symphony orchestra. Vince is quite an amazing piccolo player.

Ro stood in the living room, peering out the window and waiting for Jarod to pull up. She kept glancing at her watch, nervous. It was 11:22, only two minutes after she had asked Jarod to pick her up. If she had been in her right mind, she would have realized that two minutes couldn't really qualify him as being late. Unfortunately, she wasn't in her right mind. All she could think about was the fact that her family was at the races, and she wasn't there to make sure they were all right.

Ro picked up the two way radio she had brought downstairs with her. She flipped the radio on again to check the batteries though she knew it was unnecessary, she had just put fresh batteries in. She flipped off the radio, and set it down next to her keys so she wouldn't forget it.

She glanced out the window again onto the dark street. She saw the lights go off in the kitchen of the house across the street. She glanced down at her watch again. Only twenty seconds had passed.

She looked around the room, noticing for the first time the popcorn bowl sitting virtually empty on the coffee table, the few unpopped kernels in the bottom the only sign of what had been filling it. She picked up the bowl, carried it into the kitchen, dumped the kernels into the trash and set the bowl in the sink, then went back into the living room. She picked up a throw pillow off the floor, set it on the couch, and then fluffed the cushions on the chair that Aunt Mia and Uncle Brian had been cuddling in.

Ro could hear the faint sounds of pounding base in the distance, and she knew instinctively that it was Jarod turning from the main road toward her house. She groaned allowed, suddenly aware that the neighbors would hear the noise. Not that the neighbors were strangers to pounding base coming from cars. After all, her family played the radio's loud in their cars. The difference was, Ro was not usually sneaking out of the house to get into one of those cars when she was grounded.

"Still." She reassured herself. "The neighbors don't know I'm grounded."

Rosa watched as Jarod pulled up in his Honda Civic. She could hear laughter emanating from the car, and realized with a groan that Jarod had brought his two best friends along with him.

Ro grabbed her keys and the two way radio and left the house.

As the teenager walked to the driveway, she couldn't help but examine Jarod's car with an eye trained by fifteen years of living and breathing racing. She noticed everything, the tires, which were a bit to narrow to have good tread for street racing, she heard the rumble of the engine, and the pounding of the base.

"The stereo must be in the trunk." She thought, as she opened the door and slid in the passenger seat next to Jarod.

"Hey." She said. "I thought you would be coming alone."

"Are you kidding?" Jarod asked from behind the wheel as he began to back out of the driveway. "Pink and Frankie were with me when I got your message."

"Who beat you up?" asked Pink with sickening glee from his spot in the back seat.

"Nobody beat me up." Ro replied defensively. "Mike was getting too big for his britches. I just decided to bring him down a peg."

"Wait." Said Frankie. "You did that to Mike Sullivan?"

"Yeah."

"Nice." Frankie replied.

Ro grinned at the impressed tone of his voice, then quickly schooled her features. Just being with these three made her nervous, and she really didn't want to give them any ideas. She quickly gave Jarod directions that would take them about a mile from the meeting point.

"Nice car." Ro said as they drove. She meant it, to some extent. Civic's could be great cars, if they were worked on properly.

"Thanks." Jarod replied.

"Like you would know." Pink said from the back.

"Listen Pink." Ro was speaking at a deliberately slow pace, like she was trying to explain something to a small child. "I've been working on cars since I was four years old. If you spent every evening for the next three years with your arms up to the elbows in engine oil, instead of playing video games, you just might learn a fraction of what I already know."

"You know," Pink replied. "Your parents may own a garage, but that doesn't make you an expert."

"I never claimed to be an expert. I just claimed to know more than you."

Pink's face darkened and he muttered something under his breath. Next to him, Frankie chuckled softly to himself.

"Jarod, what kind of work have you had done on this?" Ro questioned.

"I got the best that Honda had to offer so that I wouldn't need to have any work done." Jarod replied pompously.

Ro nodded and turned to peer out the window. "This guy doesn't stand a chance." She thought.

"Listen, if we do this, you're all going to need to follow my instructions." Ro said ten minutes later when they reached the intersection she had directed Jarod to. The streets were quiet and empty.

"Why would we do that?" Jarod questioned, looking over and glaring at her.

"Just think of this as a tryout. You want to get to the races, you have to come through me."

"Who put you in charge?" asked Pink.

"My family."

"What gave them the power?" Pink pressed.

"They run the races here. They decide who races, when they race, and who they race against."

"Who did they kill to get that job?" Jarod asked.

Rosa couldn't believe what she was hearing. These guys knew nothing about her family, yet they were being total jerks. They needed to be brought down a peg.

"You know what? Just forget it. Stop here and let me out. I'll find my own way home." Even as Ro said it, she knew it was a gamble. If they let her go, she would be stuck here, possibly miles from the actual site of the races, without any way to get back home. Oh, she could always call a cab and pay for it when she got home with money from her allowance, but she would have to walk a couple of miles to the nearest pay phone. If she did that, her parents would beat her home, and she really didn't want to have to explain what she was doing far enough from home that a taxi back would cost her life savings.

"Oh, sensitive, aren't you?" Pink sneered. Jarod laughed. In the back seat, Frankie glanced at Rosa to see her reaction.

"No, I just have better things to do than listen to you guys knock things you don't understand." Ro replied, evenly.

"OK," said Jarod from the driver's seat, though his tone was anything but complacent. "We'll do it you're way."

"Good. I need you to turn off the music."

"Why?" Jarod asked.

"So that I can hear this." Rosa said, pulling out her two way radio.

Jarod gave her a questioning look, but reached over and turned down the music. Rosa waited until the music was completely off, then turned on the radio and set it to the proper channel. There was silence, both over the radio and in the car, for a full minute before Jarod spoke.

"What are you waiting for?" he asked impatiently.

"They're not at the races right now. They're at the warehouse district about a mile from here. They meet there, decide who's going to race and where the race will be, then they all head out. They'll announce where the race is going to be and we'll head that direction." Ro answered.

"I thought you're parents ran this thing."

"They do."

"Then why didn't they tell you before where the race was going to be."

"They wait and see who is going to race, then decide the track." Ro replied matter-of-factly. "If there are only two people racing, they choose a narrower road. It keeps things more exciting that way. The more people racing, the wider the road. Sometimes they will hold the races over railroad tracks, which add an element of excitement as well."

"How do you know they didn't announce it before we got here?" Pink questioned.

"Because there's no one talking. This channel is only silent when they are deciding where to race, and when they're waiting for the OK to race. Other than that, there's always people on it."

"Why does everyone stay off it then?"

"No one wants to miss the announcement." Ro answered.

As soon as she finished saying this, the radio squawked to life.

_"Let's all head to Slips."_ Leon's voice was heard.

"Great." Said Ro, as she reached down and switched off the radio to save the batteries.

"Wait, that was it?" Jarod asked.

"Yep." Ro said.

"But there was no address."

"They don't announce addresses over the radio. That would give away where they're going. They don't want any unexpected guests. Don't worry, I know where we're going. Just turn right at the next light."

"So you know where Snips is?" said Jarod as he pulled away from the curb.

"It's Slips, and yes, I know where it is."

"Why do they call it Slips?" Frankie asked.

"The first time my Uncle Brian raced, he used the pink slip to his car to buy in. Apparently he was so desperate to win, he ignored the warning signs and caused some pretty major damage to the car." Rosa had heard this story so many times she could almost picture it happening. "My Dad won, but for some reason, I'm not sure why, the car couldn't be fixed. Uncle Brian owed my Dad a ten second car. He bought a beater, and they fixed it up together. That's how they became friends. The road they raced that night became known as Pink Slip, and later just Slips."

"That's lame." Pink said dully. Rosa ignored him and kept giving Jarod directions.

"Are they all named after events?" said Frankie.

"Not all of them, but a lot of them. For instance one of the roads is known as View Point. One racer got nervous on his first race, and swerved. Unfortunately the race was over a bridge. He got high centered on the edge and teetered there for about twenty minutes until they could get a tow truck to pull him back. He never made that mistake again."

Frankie laughed, Pink rolled his eyes, Jarod asked where he should turn next.

"Right up ahead, there's a parking garage on the left. Drive up to the top floor. It's overlooking the road, we'll watch from there."

"You know Jarod," said Pink. "We know were the race is going to be tonight. We don't need to hide, we can just watch from down here."

Ro was starting to think that this whole thing was a bad idea. She probably should have just stayed home. She was tired of having to deal with Pink. The guy was so obnoxious. She was about to say something when Frankie chimed in.

"That won't work, Pink. Mr. and Mrs. Toretto will never let Jarod race if he just shows up. Which Ro pretty much already said."

"Whatever." Said Pink.

Jarod turned into the parking garage just as Ro heard the sound of approaching cars.

"Sounds like the party has arrived." She said. "Let's get to the top floor as quickly as possible. As soon as they get the road blocked off and get the all clear from Leon, they'll start the race."

Ro turned the two way radio back on and they were immediately bombarded by the incessant chatter of a bunch of ditsy women.

_"Did you see what he's wearing?" asked one_

_"Oh yeah, he bumped into me and he smells so good."_

_"He bumped into you? You're so lucky."_

"What's that?" asked Jarod.

"Mating call of the pathetic and desperate." Ro replied with an edge to her voice.

"What?"

"They're the skanks who hope to sleep with the winner, though its not gonna happen."

"Why not?"

"Because, my Dad's racing tonight. The only one going home with the winner, is my Mom." Ro answered with pride. "Don't worry, they'll shut up in just a minute."

As if on cue, the chatter slowed to a halt and Leon's voice could be heard over the radio.

"_Let's spread out and cover all the side streets. The last thing we need is some bike messenger dodging out in front of the racers." _He said.

Ro chuckled to herself. Leon had recently taken it upon himself to name a new and strange way the race could be interrupted. Last week he had said something about a lawyer getting lost on his way to the court house. The fact that it was now approaching one in the morning, far too late for any bike messengers to be out, made no difference.

"Come on!" said Ro, excitedly as they reached the top floor of the parking garage. She opened the door, and jumped out before Jarod had gotten the car to a complete stop. The air was filled with the sound of engines, squealing tires, and pounding music. Ro felt like she was home.

She rushed over to the side of the building with the boys right on her heels. There was an electric energy that was unmistakable.

Eight stories below them, cars were streaming onto the street from all directions. Ro knew they had taken different routes to try and avoid attracting unwanted attention from the cops.

Ro gazed down looking for cars she recognized.

"They look so small." Frankie said.

"I know, like toys." Ro added, she heard a distinct sound and looked over to the left to see her family drive up in V formation. Dom was in the lead, followed by Letty and Vince, then Jesse and Leon and finally Brian and Mia.

"That's my Family." Ro explained to her companions. "My Dad's in front."

"Oh, isn't that sweet. The King is leading in his court." Pink said sarcastically. He was really starting to get on Ro's nerves.

"No." Ro answered, more sharply than she would have liked. "Dad's in front because he's racing today. If the Mad Scientist were racing today, he'd be in the lead." Rosa didn't add that as the teams good luck charm, she always rode in the lead car on the way to the races.

"The Mad Scientist?" Jarod questioned.

"Jesse. He's the best mechanic I've ever seen. He's made repairs that no one thought possible, and left the car running better than ever before."

"Sounds like someone has a crush." Said Pink.

"Not likely." Ro countered. "He's like my uncle."

Pink opened his mouth to make another smart remark, but was interrupted when the radio squawked to life again.

_"You're listening to KCOP channel nine, it's cop watch." __Leon__ said in a goofy announcer voice. "No news right now, alls quiet, too quiet. But its only a matter of time. I'll be reporting back shortly with an update. Back to you Jim."_

The radio fell silent.

Down below, cars were blocking off the streets and forming a barricade on both sides of the street as people got into position to watch the race. At both ends of the mile long stretch, women ran across the road, spray painting starting and finishing lines on the street. Spectators poured out of vehicles and began socializing.

Four cars pulled up to the starting line, and Ro immediately recognized who they belonged to. Getting caught up in the excitement, she immediately began to tell Jarod, Frankie and Pink about the drivers. She considered telling them about the cars as well, but decided against it. She didn't want to give Jarod an edge, if he ever found his way in to try racing.

"The near car is Kay's. This is only her fourth race, and she's come in last in her first three, but she's getting better." Ro said. She had a lot of respect for Kay, because she was one of only two women who race. The other was Letty.

"Why doesn't she just quit?" asked Jarod. Ro ignored the comment.

"The driver in the next car is Edwin. He's been racing almost as long as my family. Of course, he does it for the women. I don't know why though, he rarely gets one of them."

Frankie laughed loudly, and Rosa immediately looked down for her family, worried that they might have heard. Logic immediately took over, and she relaxed, realizing that there was no way they could have heard laughter eight stories up over the roar of engines and the talking and cheering of so many people.

"The third car belongs to Damon Odes. He's rules the streets in his podunky little home town so about every six months he gets up the nerve to come here and play with the big boys. Last time he got nervous, clipped his bumper on a wall, and went spinning across the finish line. He was so embarrassed, he didn't even get out of the car. He just got the wheel straitened out, and drove away not making eye contact with any of the spectators."

This time, all three of the boys laughed, and Rosa started to relax.

"My Dad is in the last car." Ro said simply, with pride in her voice.

As soon as she said this, Leon's voice could be heard over the radio again.

"_We've got an armed robbery in progress! The cops are tied up. Let's Roll!"_

An excited hush fell over the crowd, in direct contrast to the noise of the drivers revving their engines. A woman stepped out in front of the crowd. Her name was Rebecca, but she had started calling herself Bubbles about six months ago. Ro wondered what kind of idiot would willingly choose Bubbles as a nickname.

Bubbles raised her right arm over her head, and waited until all of the drivers were focused on her.

"She probably thinks that makes her the center of attention." Ro thought, knowing it wasn't true. Bubbles was no more the center of attention than a traffic light was at an intersection.

There was a tension filled pause, and Bubbles dropped her hand.

The air was filled with blue smoke as the racers rammed their feet down on the accelerators. Dom the first to break into motion and immediately took the lead, with Edwin hot on his bumper. Kay moved smoothly into third, while Damon spun his tires and fishtailed before gaining purchase and rocketing forward.

Kay continued to gain on Edwin for a couple of seconds, and Damon kept pace with her. Suddenly Damon lurched forward and overtook Kay then Edwin.

"Way too soon!" Ro exclaimed.

"What…why?" asked Jarod.

"Just watch." Ro answered.

Damon was already falling back. He was easily overtaken by Edwin, then Kay. Edwin was gaining on Dom now, with Kay following closely behind. The finish line was looming in front of the racers, and Kay must have gotten nervous, cause her car put on a sudden burst of speed, passed Edwin, and caught up with Dom before fading back some.

"Wait…wait." Ro mumbled to herself. "NOW!" she slapped her hand down on the concrete wall she was leaning over, as if she were pushing an invisible NOS button. As if on cue, both Edwin and Dom leapt forward and crossed the finish line a mere quarter of a second apart.

Spectators rushed forward to congratulate Dom on his win. Ro watched him get out of the car, run up to Letty, pick her up, and spin her around in the air before setting her down and giving Mia a hug, then shaking hands with Brian, Vince, and Jesse.

Ro had to fight off the urge to run down there and join in the celebration. She loved these minutes after the race when her family were all hugging each other and glowing from their win. They knew that even though Dom had driven, they had all helped to build the car, and offer him advise about the competition. In their own small ways, they could share the win. For the first time, Ro felt like she wasn't a part of that.

She watched her Dad pull out his cell phone and enter one of the speed dial numbers. He held the phone to his ear and listened for about fifteen seconds, got a look of confusion on his face, the shrugged and ended the call.

"That's it?" Jarod said next to her, breaking her away from the scene below her. "I could do that, easily. I'm not sure what all the fuss is about, actually."

"Really?" said Ro, bitterly. "Then I'll just tell my dad that you don't want to race after all."

"No, I still want to race. I just don't think it'll be that hard to win." Jarod said.

Rosa grinned and how quickly he had back pedaled. She was about to comment on this, when Leon screamed over the radio.

"_Cops!__ Cops! We've got cops! Go...go...go…go!"_

Ro immediately turned and ran full tilt to the car.

"Where are you going?" asked Jarod.

"Didn't you hear him? The cops are on the way. We have to go!"

"Uh, no we don't. We're eight stories up. I really don't think the cops are going to drive all the way up here when they have everyone down there to chase. Right now, I'm going to stay out of it. I can't afford to get another ticket, or worse, arrested."

Ro opened her mouth to protest, then thought better of it, and shut it. As much as she hated it, Jarod was right. Yes, she had planned to get back to the house before her parents did, but it would be worse if she had to call them from jail because her ride had been arrested. She slowly nodded her head, then walked back over to the side of the parking garage, and looked over the edge.

She had seen this before. People rushing to their cars, and pulling away in all directions as the police screamed around corners into the thick of the action with their lights flashing and sirens wailing. She had never seen it from this perspective before. She had always been down on the street, rushing to a vehicle with the nearest team member and keeping an eye out for cops. From this distance, it looked like a chase scene from a bad B-movie filmed from above. Bright colored matchbox cars running from the black and whites. If she hadn't been so worried about her family, she might have started laughing.

It was then that she realized that's exactly what Pink and Jarod were doing. Frankie on the other hand was looking at her with concern. As soon as he saw her return his gaze, he looked away.

"Stop here. I'll walk the rest of the way." Said Ro. An hour and a half had passed since the end of the car race. The four teenagers had waiting on top of the roof until well after the last siren had been silenced. Jarod wanted to make sure that no one would be hanging around with they left the parking garage.

"Why?" asked Jarod.

"Because." Ro answered, thinking quickly. "My parents don't want to meet you until they get a chance to talk to me."

Apparently this was a good enough answer for Jarod. He pulled over, and let her out.

"Later." She said, and started to walk away.

"Hey!" Jarod stopped her. "When am I gonna find out if I get to race?"

"As soon as I do." Ro answered.

She hurried the last block to her house, then stopped outside and looked up at the house. The lights were on, but she couldn't see anyone moving past the windows. She took a deep breath to stop the guilty butterflies in her stomach, then walked up the steps and opened the door.

"Rosa?" Dom asked, hurrying in from the living room.

"Yeah, Dad."

"Where have you been?" His voice was stern, and his eyes dark.

"I just went for a walk." Ro was surprised by how easily the lie came out. Until that moment, she had no idea what she was going to tell her parents.

"At two in the morning?" By this time Dom had been joined by Letty. Ro could hear the rest of the family talking in the living room.

"Well, I'm used to going to the races with you guys. I wasn't tired, so I thought some fresh air would help me sleep."

"Why didn't you leave a note?"

"I was planning to be back before you got home, but I lost track of time."

Dom and Letty considered this for a moment. They weren't sure weather they should believe her. Still, she had never lied to them before.

"You could have been hurt, Rosa." Said Letty. "You're fifteen. You shouldn't be walking around alone at two in the morning, no matter what the reason."

Rosa nodded and looked at the floor. After a moment, the silence became uncomfortable.

"How was the race?" Ro asked, trying to sound more cheerful than she felt.

"Dad won." Letty answered proudly.

"I tried to call you after the race to tell you." Dom said. Ro remembered him on his cell phone. "I figured you must have been thinking about me, and I wanted to thank you. See, you're still my good luck charm, Pazzesco!"

"Congratulations." Ro said, softly. "I'm going to go on up to bed." She slowly walked up the stairs.

Letty and Dom exchanged concerned looks. That wasn't the reaction they had expected.

"Maybe she's just upset that she missed it." Said Letty.

"Maybe." Dom said, though he didn't sound convinced.

Ro walked into her room, and collapsed on the bed with silent tears running down her cheeks. She had thought she was making the right decision by going, but now she wasn't so sure. Her parents still trusted her, but the guilt was gnawing at her horribly. She lay down on top of the covers, and cried herself to sleep.


End file.
